Kindled (Book 3 The Kindred Series) (36 page)

   “Are you still unable to reach out with your mind?” Annabelle asked softly.

   Devon shuddered, tugging at his hair. At one time he had always known where Cassie was, always been able to brush against her mind with his. Hell, he had even invaded her dream once before. But now, well now she was too far away. He was unable to locate her, unable to feel her, or find her. “The distance is too great, and I… I am…”

   “Too unstable,” Annabelle finished when he could not.

   Fresh anger spurted through him.
Anger at her for her observation
,
anger at himself for not being able to control the beast inside of him better.
“Yes,” he growled.
  

  
She sighed softly, pacing slowly amongst the trees
as she tried to work things out
.
She appeared diminutive and sweet, but Annabelle had a spine of steel and a razor sharp mind.
“
I think we should join Liam and Luther
. We may be able to help them; Melissa
may even have a premonition. Hopefully,”
she
added
softly.
“And Chris may be able to sense something. Maybe if we all join together again we can find her
, and if we get close enough to her, you may be able to connect with her again
.”

   Devon remained silent, staring intently at the
three
of them. Melissa
and Annabelle
stood proudly, defiantly. Chris
looked completely lost and helpless. Devon felt his insides twist even more
, agony surged through his gut
. Fire burned
hi
s veins. It wasn’t
much of a plan
, they all knew that, but it was all they had left.
He couldn’t admit defeat, because if he did it would be over
for him
,
and for Cassie
. He
c
ould
quite possibly
destroy
every one of these people
, his
friends,
if he
di
dn’t find her. H
e would
definitely
find a way to destroy himself
,
even if it meant staying in the sun for days on end
until his body could no longer take it
,
and he finally burned.
E
ve
n if it meant staking himself.

   “Let’s go.”

   Devon turned and disappeared into the words, running rapidly toward Cassie’s house. He didn’t wait for the others, he needed to move, needed to try and burn off some of hi
s excess energy and rage. He rac
ed swiftly through the trees, easily dodging the branches
and
bushes that threatened to catch hold of him.

   He broke free of the woods, darting across Cassie’s backyard
he
pounded up the back steps.
Pulling out his phone, he
hit
Luther’s number as he slammed into the kitchen.
“
Any
thing?” he
demanded the minute Luther picked up.

   The man sighed softly. Devon could hear the regret and aggravation in that single breath. “No,” Luther reluctantly admitted.

  Devon glanced up as Annabelle came through the back door, stomping her boots off
,
she blew on her hands. Her eyes were worried as she gazed sympathetically at him. Devon’s lip curled in a sneer, he hated the pity he felt radiating
from her.
The pity that they
all
felt for him now.
Turning away, his hand tightened on the phone as he pressed it tighter to his ear.

  
“We
’re
coming to join you.”

  “Excuse me?” Luther asked in surprise.

   “We’re coming to join you. We’re leaving as soon as possible; meet you in Vermont by morning.”

   Luther was silent for a moment. “All of you?” he asked quietly.

   “Yes.”

   Devon heard the rustle of his glasses as Luther slid them off. “We can’t leave the town unprotected.”

   The front door opened and closed, Melissa and Chris eyed him wearily as they moved slowly toward the kitchen. “It won’t be unprotected; I don’t think Julian is here any longer. I don’t know why he moved on, but he has. The
C
ommission w
ill not come here;
th
ey already have what they want
.
If other vampire’s do arrive here, they will move on once they realize that there are no Hunter’s here anymore, and there is no power or challenge.
We’re
coming up there
.
Now
.”

   “Wait Devon, slow down.” Luther said quickly. “Are you sure that Julian is no longer
there, or is he just in hiding?
”

   “I’m sure,” Devon growl
ed.

  
“The town…”

   “Will be fine,” Devon interrupted sharply
. “This is the only hope w
e have. We need to find her
. Are there Hunter’s out there that possess Julian’s ability?”

   “I wouldn’t even know where to start looking,” Luther admitted. “The few Hunter’s that are left, and that are accounted for, do not have the same ability as Julian. If there are others out there
,
I don’t know where
they are
.”

   Devon slammed his hand into the wall, shaking the bracings behind the plastering. He sneered at Chris and Melissa as they took a swift step away from him.
“Then this is the only hope we have. I’ll call you
to find out where you are
when we hit the border.”

   Devon hung up before Luther could say anymore. Rage was racing through him, bursting up and down his spine as it shook him.
No one moved for a moment, and then Annabelle strode forward
and
grasp
ed
hold of his arm. “Devon, if this doesn’t work then we need to talk about what will happen.”

   He turned away from her, his gaze landing on his reflection in the window. His eyes were vibrant red, the same murderous color they had been since Melissa’s vision. A color he knew would not vanish until he had Cassie in his arms again.
A
color he knew meant he was standing on a very thin precipice
,
one
that was about to give out.

   “I know what will happen,” he told her.

   “And what is that?” she asked quietly.

   “I’ll die
, and you will have to help make sure that it happens
.”

 
Annabelle gaped at him, her sea green eyes sw
a
m with tears. He had never understood how she
could
forgive him for what he had done to her, but she had, and she actually
cared
for him
. He hated himself even more because of that.
It would have been better if she had hated him for his cruelty
,
and selfishness. H
e would
only
hurt her again if
he
lost complete control. He touched her hand gently, wanting to offer her some comfort
, but knowing that it was very little
.

   “It’s ok,” he assured her. “It’s what I will want.”

   Tears slid down her face as she nodded slowly. “I understand.”

   Devon slid his arm away from Annabelle; turning on his heel he swiftly left the room.

CHAPTER
17

   Cassie couldn’t help it; a scream finally
ripped
from her. The brutality of it tore
the inside of
her throat apart; the length of it left her breathless and gasping for air. She shook with the force of the scream
, struggling desperately not to shed the tears that filled her eyes. Sweat poured down her as she struggled to break free, her wrists and shoulders ached painfully
as she fought against the straps holding her down
. Gasping for breath, she fell back against the table.

 
The hours had all blurred into one, she had no concept of time, or days. For all she knew
,
she had been here
only
a day
;
it could have been a
month.
She had no thought for time anymore, she barely had thought for consciousness.
More often than not
,
it was the pain that
held her captive
, dragging her deep into the realm of unconsciousness until the pain woke her again.

   A fresh bolt of electricity caused her to jump off the table
;
her feet
,
hand
, and head
restraints
were
the only thing
s
keeping her bound
to it.
She bit down hard on he
r
mouth guard, fighting fiercely against the urge to scream again. She didn
’
t want to give them the satisfaction of breaking her once more.
She didn
’
t want them to enjoy her torment, though she knew that they were enjoying it no matter what.
However,
her screams would only enhance their pleasure.

  
She didn’t know why they kept pumping her
full
of electricity
,
but after
a number of
jolt
s
they would come back in, take her blood pressure, and pull more blood. She suspected they m
ay
be doing the same thing to Julian, but she had not seen him since she had woken up on this table today, yesterday, or whenever it was.

   She collapsed upon the table again, her head loll
ed
to the side. She could feel blood in her mouth from where she had bit her tongue
through the guard
,
but she couldn’t
bring herself to
care.
S
he watched through half open eyes as they came back into the room. One of them
was the cold older man that
had been with Joey
the
first day, the other she didn
’
t know. They moved silently, not speaking as they produced more needles.

   Cassie groaned, unable to bear the thought of another needle being shoved into her arm. She held her breath, hating herself for the single tear that slipped down her face as the needle pierced her
raw
skin. She waited for the tugging feel of her blood being drawn against her will, but it did not come. Instead
,
she felt a rush in her arm, something moving through her veins.
They brought
forth
three more needles, inserting all of their contents into her wounded veins.

   Terror coursed through her. This
was new; they had never
injected
her with anything before. She waited breathlessly, wondering if they had decided to just put her out of her misery. She wasn’t so sure she would
even
mind at the moment.
And then she thought of Devon, drawing his image vividly in her mind.
His memory
was the only thing that had
kept
her going, the only thing that kep
t
her even remotely sane in this hellish existence
of pain and misery
into which she had been
thrust
.

   Sometimes she wondered if she was already dead, and this was Hell. But then she would think of Devon
,
and that small bit of Heaven in this misery would prove to her that this could not be Hell. For she was sure that nothing in Hell would allow her to feel as good as
the
thoughts of him did.

   “Release her.”

   Cassie groaned in relief as the tight,
agonizing
bonds were removed from her. She tried to roll over, tried to stand, but she couldn’t even move.
H
ands seized hold of her, lifting her roughly up.
Nausea swamped her, for a frightening moment she thought she was going to vomit everywhere. A groan escaped her as they hauled her forward, dragging her when her feet would not move.